I hate episodes where teams placement does not change. I hate it when the teams are U-TURNed to do something that is almost impossible. Kudos for Joe and Heidi for even trying to break the code, BECAUSE.. there is simply NO WAY that i can do something like that and i would have given up on the spot. These two totally showed the asian spirit of not giving up! Another wonderful team eliminated from this season.. i think this is the first season where the teams that i think i like get eliminated 10th, 9th and 8th. Like some curse is going on.

Jeff and Jordan are plain whiney and dumb and the fact that they took over Joe and Heidi's place in the final 7 is ridiculous. And seriously, any team U-TURNed this leg WILL be eliminated because if you KNOW NUTS about MORSE CODE, you will be eliminated. When did the U-TURN turn into a SABOTAGE to ELIMINATE a team instead of HOLDING back a team. Hate the unfairness on TAR and i'm very displeased with this episode.

This episode could have been amazing with the Detour AND ANOTHER ROADBLOCK... because seriously, there really isn't anything to see in this episode. They forced us to spend so much time watching all the different teams crawl over the same spot at the same area over and over again? Some plain cheapskate planning for the race to save money? This is just ridiculous.

Very unhappy with this episode and to think my love for the season just nearly picked up last week. What a way to eliminate a team and it was based on one team's decision. And you can't blame Joe and Heidi for not being able to do morse code. WHICH OF THE OTHER TEAMS KNEW?

ALL I CAN SAY IS.. KARMA WILL BITE MICHAEL AND LOUIE BACK. Shanna and Jennifer didn't win, Kynt and Vyxsin didn't win, Margie and Luke didn't win... all they can depend on is TAMMY AND VICTOR to give them some luck.

I agree with what you say, and I have to say that that's about how I'm feeling right now. Disgusted about the whole way Joe & Heidi's race was portrayed, and upset that all the first four teams eliminated have been my favorites. I think the only favorites left for me are Steve & Allie and Jet & Cord, and we all know that in a couple episodes yet another one of these will also be gone.

Jeff & Jordan and maybe also Brent & Caite need to go. Brent & Caite are growing on me a little bit, but they don't have enough potential (it seems) to be worth rooting for. And Jeff & Jordan are just wasting everyone's time in the back of the pack. If they had to survive this long, they should at least have been in the middle or front for the duration, so their eventual elimination could be that much more epic. They did not prove in any way that they deserved to remain in the Race with their performance today.

Also, why no Roadblock? It would have given Joe & Heidi a valuable chance to catch up. By planning the U-turn at that task with no Roadblock afterward, the producers seemed to be intending to have a U-turn based elimination. And that's exactly what it turned out to be.

Louie & Michael just wanted to "humble" Joe "a little bit." Well it did just a little more than that, guys. I really hope the karma (on Michael's confessional T-shirt, BTW) comes back to get them. I'm confident it eventually will.

Now I'm pretty sure only 2 or maybe 3 of the other teams could have successfully done the morse code puzzle in those conditions. But all the same, at least it's a mentally challenging task, which is important to have in an increasingly dumbed-down race these days. Too bad we don't have any difficult physical challenges. And sadly, we still have teams complaining about the easy physical tasks such as crawling in the dirt. It's a race. You applied to do it (or at least I sincerely hope you did). Don't complain about something reasonably easy that any average person in decent physical condition could do.

I thought the war setup was intriguing, but not Race-worthy material. The race needs to feature REAL tasks, without the elaborately staged settings. You could just do that in a studio if it's so important to feature it (which to honest Race viewers it's really not).

Joab, you're not the only one on this sinking boat. This is similar to what happened to me in TAR 14. All the teams I wanted to root for fell out in the first five eliminations. It was lousy. And in TAR 15, beyond Zev & Justin and Gary & Matt, there weren't many teams for me to root for anyway. I was "forced" to root for Meghan & Cheyne. They were too bland, but at least they were likable. I think from this point on when I watch TAR I will just have to do it without rooting for any teams at all, in other words, from an objective standpoint. It's the only way to not be disappointed.

Not really appreciating or "getting" the enthusiasm for all the changes going on in these recent seasons. I'd really prefer things to be more the way they once were (before Season 11. That's right. Radical step "backward", but a necessary one.). And I sincerely hope this is not going to be the Emmy episode for this year. Go the first Prague leg of last season, instead. Much more traditional, quality TAR, although the teams left were somewhat boring.

Joab: Your reaction is essentially my reaction to this as well. But I've decided to make my posts quieter and more objective from here onward, in the interest of not provoking heated debate. Essentially, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf.

Detours are more fun when they are "balanced" in the number of teams that take them. It would have been cool if 4 teams crawled and 4 teams did Morse code. But teams are smarter these days and realize one of the Detours is faster, and usually scarier.

Hooky, you need to make another rant thread so that you can organize your many complaints.

I for one liked the tasks this week, since they were somewhat rooted in history. As for "staged," that's a really broad definition and can encompass a majority of the tasks. Do you mean you don't like tasks with a bunch of actors?

I hated the U-turn placement, though. No way to catch up if there's no roadblock!

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Personally I love the linear legs, finally we see the teams that have worked their way to the front get some sort of advantage for it. And the teams at the back have to bust their asses to get back in the game, which Brent and Caite tried to do, albeit badly, but I liked their spirit.

The whole point of the U-Turn is to sabotage other teams, and while I think they picked the wrong targets, given Joe's bad knee and how much that was likely to impact on their performance, it was the perfect time to play it. If I had finished the Detour first and known that their was a very challenging, if not impossible other side, my first thought would be who to U-Turn.

You can't blame Joe & Heidi for not being able to do morse code? Seriously? Then I can't blame Mika for not being able to go down a slide?

A challenge is supposed to be just that; when everyone can do it, it isn't much of one. And morse code? It should have been doable. Watching them struggle made me so proud of the thousands of soldiers who managed to get messages right in the middle of a REAL battlefield.

Personally I love the linear legs, finally we see the teams that have worked their way to the front get some sort of advantage for it. And the teams at the back have to bust their asses to get back in the game, which Brent and Caite tried to do, albeit badly, but I liked their spirit.

The whole point of the U-Turn is to sabotage other teams, and while I think they picked the wrong targets, given Joe's bad knee and how much that was likely to impact on their performance, it was the perfect time to play it. If I had finished the Detour first and known that their was a very challenging, if not impossible other side, my first thought would be who to U-Turn.

Louis and Michael had their pick of any team. I think they wasted it on Joe and Heidi when they could have given some trouble and time loss(although not guaranteed elimination) to Jet/Cord. I would have Blind U-turned Jet/Cord if placed at that Blind U-turn station. The appear to me to be the strongest team in the competition and Joe/Heidi were not going to last much longer; as soon as a major physical task required Joe to do heavy work, he would have been done in by his knee regardless of his macho and bravado. I have 2 knees soon to undergo complete replacement, so I know what he must have felt like.

Personally I love the linear legs, finally we see the teams that have worked their way to the front get some sort of advantage for it. And the teams at the back have to bust their asses to get back in the game, which Brent and Caite tried to do, albeit badly, but I liked their spirit.

The whole point of the U-Turn is to sabotage other teams, and while I think they picked the wrong targets, given Joe's bad knee and how much that was likely to impact on their performance, it was the perfect time to play it. If I had finished the Detour first and known that their was a very challenging, if not impossible other side, my first thought would be who to U-Turn.

Louis and Michael had their pick of any team. I think they wasted it on Joe and Heidi when they could have given some trouble and time loss(although not guaranteed elimination) to Jet/Cord. I would have Blind U-turned Jet/Cord if placed at that Blind U-turn station. The appear to me to be the strongest team in the competition and Joe/Heidi were not going to last much longer; as soon as a major physical task required Joe to do heavy work, he would have been done in by his knee regardless of his macho and bravado. I have 2 knees soon to undergo complete replacement, so I know what he must have felt like.

Still, let's consider that the policemen U-turning the cowboys wouldn't have caused as much controversy and discussions among fans. It was dramatic gold.

Logged

The story so far:In the beginning the Universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move

I think if they U-Turned the cowboys more teams would have been mad at Mike and Louie. Remember it wasn't just the detectives Joe pissed off. They did the other teams a favor by getting rid of Joe. Plus Heid and Joe came in 3rd twice and were running a strong race despite Joe's knee.

Uh-oh. To all the teams who hate TAR and this episode, you only got one choice: STOP WATCHING IT!

Too much complain? STOP WATCHING IT. You are complaining TOO MUCH you think you can make another race based on your taste.

I watch because there is no other show quite like this. I'm not going to back out just because of this episode. But overall it is losing what once made it feel original, so maybe I will in the near future.

Hooky, you need to make another rant thread so that you can organize your many complaints.

I for one liked the tasks this week, since they were somewhat rooted in history. As for "staged," that's a really broad definition and can encompass a majority of the tasks. Do you mean you don't like tasks with a bunch of actors?

I mean all the tasks that are just these big "scenes" set up in the middle of a place that would otherwise have absolutely nothing there. In other words, a normally non-existent setting created just to feature certain tasks. For example, the Gypsy Moves Detour of TAR 14, the Japanese Game Show of TAR 15, the ducks of TAR 15, and the French War of TAR 16. Instead of spending all that money on building a place to feature a certain task, the task designers should search out certain places and then choose a task to feature that can already be done at those places. No low-budget staging expenses necessary. This is how seasons before TAR 14 created their tasks. Why did things change?

I just have to ask: Why go to a foreign country if you're just going to set up a location or setting that wasn't already there? Just do it in the CBS studio if you want that so badly (that would be a fun race).

I mean all the tasks that are just these big "scenes" set up in the middle of a place that would otherwise have absolutely nothing there. In other words, a normally non-existent setting created just to feature certain tasks. For example, the Gypsy Moves Detour of TAR 14, the Japanese Game Show of TAR 15, the ducks of TAR 15, and the French War of TAR 16. Instead of spending all that money on building a place to feature a certain task, the task designers should search out certain places and then choose a task to feature that can already be done at those places. No low-budget staging expenses necessary. This is how seasons before TAR 14 created their tasks. Why did things change?

I just have to ask: Why go to a foreign country if you're just going to set up a location or setting that wasn't already there? Just do it in the CBS studio if you want that so badly (that would be a fun race).

You know what happened the last time I did that.

In this case this was an actual battlefield that had been preserved - Le Mains de Massiges wasn't created specifically for this task. You can't throw a crêpe very far in this part of France and not hit a WWI memorial or battlefield. It is appropriate and reflective of the culture there to include a WWI re-enactment - just as crêpe making would be.

I mean all the tasks that are just these big "scenes" set up in the middle of a place that would otherwise have absolutely nothing there. In other words, a normally non-existent setting created just to feature certain tasks. For example, the Gypsy Moves Detour of TAR 14, the Japanese Game Show of TAR 15, the ducks of TAR 15, and the French War of TAR 16. Instead of spending all that money on building a place to feature a certain task, the task designers should search out certain places and then choose a task to feature that can already be done at those places. No low-budget staging expenses necessary. This is how seasons before TAR 14 created their tasks. Why did things change?

I just have to ask: Why go to a foreign country if you're just going to set up a location or setting that wasn't already there? Just do it in the CBS studio if you want that so badly (that would be a fun race).

You know what happened the last time I did that.

In this case this was an actual battlefield that had been preserved - Le Mains de Massiges wasn't created specifically for this task. You can't throw a crêpe very far in this part of France and not hit a WWI memorial or battlefield. It is appropriate and reflective of the culture there to include a WWI re-enactment - just as crêpe making would be.

OK, thanks! My mistake.

It wasn't a bad task, it just got ruined by what happened with Joe & Heidi being stuck there.

One thing people have to keep in mind -- there was no guarantee that Joe and Heidi would not have been eliminated even if Louie and Michael hadn't used the U-Turn. I can't imagine how Joe could have used the bike with his foot being as painful and difficult to use as it was. (His only option would have been to walk (with the bike) the four kilometers and that might have still been deemed a violation of Race rules requiring a penalty for not following the directions in the clue.

Teams some people like or even many prople have liked have been eliminated because of a task in the past. To quote another show's best known line "All this has happened before, and will happen again."

Thanks for the link! I tried to key in the message to decode in the race, and it's so confusing!

I don't know if the set up is like this, but I think the problem is that Joe/Heidi did not expect the message to be that long, and I wonder if they knew where to start and end a message because we kept hearing the code in this leg without start and end, this would further confuse them for the task.

In fact, when you watched the show, you can see that Joe/Heidi partly guessed the correct direction of the message, they thought it would be the same as the other detour option at first (Viva la liberte or The war is over), and then they tried to change it to phrases similar (victoire), I think the problem is that they didn't expect the message to be the same format as the one in another detour option (one English phrase + one French phrase).

I think this task is fine, but it's better to be a Roadblock because all teams just skipped that task immediately as the level difficulty of both tasks were so large, I just wonder if Brandy could manage to do that...

That's about right--4 miles, give or take. Although the pitstop sign said Verdun, the mayor said--my French is lousy, but I think he said Wargemoulin. At least the buildings seem to match.

The matt was at Wargemoulin... http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,21726.msg515136.html#msg515136I can't figure out where the racers spent the night though. As far as I can see there is no place to stay in Wargemoulin and their cars that they use in the next episode were back in Massiges somewhere.In the post race interviews they show the racers in front of a fireplace with "Espace Bernadette Poncelette" written above it - but that doesn't lead me to any obvious hotels in the area.Could we have a moving pit stop again?

One thing people have to keep in mind -- there was no guarantee that Joe and Heidi would not have been eliminated even if Louie and Michael hadn't used the U-Turn. I can't imagine how Joe could have used the bike with his foot being as painful and difficult to use as it was. (His only option would have been to walk (with the bike) the four kilometers and that might have still been deemed a violation of Race rules requiring a penalty for not following the directions in the clue.

If Joe had made it to the bicycles, walking with a bike would have been allow because it is actually slower (its own penalty). Joe sitting on a bike and pedaling with one foot would be faster than walking.

Personally, I think it would have been easier for Joe to ride the bike 4 miles than walk 4 miles. On the bike, he would not have to support his weight on that bad knee. He might not have gone very fast, but I think it would have been less stress on that bad knee. But that is just my 2 cents.

That's about right--4 miles, give or take. Although the pitstop sign said Verdun, the mayor said--my French is lousy, but I think he said Wargemoulin. At least the buildings seem to match.

The matt was at Wargemoulin... http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,21726.msg515136.html#msg515136I can't figure out where the racers spent the night though. As far as I can see there is no place to stay in Wargemoulin and their cars that they use in the next episode were back in Massiges somewhere.In the post race interviews they show the racers in front of a fireplace with "Espace Bernadette Poncelette" written above it - but that doesn't lead me to any obvious hotels in the area.Could we have a moving pit stop again?

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan